Diamond S Ranch sold to investor group

The Vail Daily
By Randy Wyrick
Enterprise staff writer

The Diamond S Ranch east of Eagle has been sold to a group of investors who say they plan to pretty much leave it alone.

John Bourassa, who splits his time between Jupiter Island, Florida and Beaver Creek, heads a seven-member group of friends that finalized the purchase this week from Selby Sullivan. The property includes 5,500 deeded acres, plus another 5,000 acres leased from the state, the BLM and Colorado Open Lands.

Sullivan declined to disclose the purchase price, and no official documents have yet been filed with the Eagle County Clerk and Recorder. Sullivan, though, had the property listed for $18 million before pulling it off the market earlier this year. He bought the ranch in 1989 for $3 million.

"We bought it because we wanted everything to stay the way it is," Bourassa said. "The value, to us, is that it's a working ranch. It's not much of a ranch if there aren't any horses or cattle on it. We want to keep it an open ranch and an open range. That's what makes it beautiful.

Bourassa and his friends plan to build private homes on seven 35-acre parcels around the ranch's 20-mile periphery, but none will be fenced and the property won't be parceled out.

"Owning a ranch like this is the American Dream, and ranching goes with this territory," said Bourassa. "It's one of the best, if not the best ranch in this valley, and it won't be chopped up. What you see now is what your going to see."

Both Sullivan and BLM area manager Mike Mottice said that in conversations with Bourassa, he had indicated plans to avoid much development in the foreseeable future.

Mottice said that in meetings with Bourassa, the new owner was intent on pursuing the same arrangement through which the BLM would acquire a 150-acre section at the ranch's southern tip. Under the proposal, ranch owners would acquire a 150-acre parcel at the property's southern tip from the state land board, place a conservation easement on it, then trade it to the BLM for a 160-acre BLM parcel located in the middle of the Diamond S.

The 150 acres the BLM would acquire ties into existing BLM land, which Mottice said would open further opportunities for recreation and open space.

"This is a good deal for everyone," said Mottice. "The public gets more open space. Wildlife, open space and recreation all come out winners. There are not many deals like this."

Mottice said that in meetings with the new owner, Bourassa acknowledged that the open space and recreational opportunities make the property more valuable.

"He's not going to do anything that's investment," said Mottice. "I'm sure there will probably be some development on that property someday. It's naive to think that, with land values the way they are, it will remain unimpacted forever, but that will apparently be extremely limited with this owner."

In the eight years Sullivan owned the property, he built a ranch house, rebuilt the barns, restored several historical buildings, built ponds and upgraded the irrigation system.

Sullivan said he and his family will stay in the valley.